UK trains get £90m for superfast WiFi

Network Rail will fund a large proportion of the £90m scheme from a record-breaking fine it was handed this week for falling short on its long-distance services over the past five years. The free superfast WiFi is reportedly ten times faster than the service available at the moment  and should be up and running within three to four years.

Network Rail says commuters will now be able to connect to the internet anywhere on the track through new technology, rather than the current system of having to find a signal on-the-go. "We all know how frustrating it can be to have our phone calls and internet use constantly disrupted by poor signal while travelling on trains. At the moment it happens too often," said transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin.

The government will favour the busier commuter lines at first - 30 per cent of the network carrying 70 per cent of the passengers. Some of the main routes that will be affected are trains from London going to places like Bedford, Brighton, Kent, Portsmouth, Manchester, Leeds and Sheffield.
Even if public transport isn’t your cup of tea, at least you’ll be able to tweet your misery at any given moment.

Posted in: